Sustainable Preservation of Indian Knowledge Systems through Cloud Computing: A Roadmap for Bharat 2047

Abstract

India's indigenous knowledge systems — spanning Ayurveda, Yoga, classical performing arts, vernacular literature, oral traditions, folk sciences, and ancient manuscripts — represent millennia of accumulated wisdom that faces accelerating erosion due to inadequate digitization, linguistic fragmentation, the passing of aging knowledge holders, and weak archival infrastructure. This paper proposes a structured roadmap for leveraging cloud computing technologies to sustainably preserve, digitize, and democratize access to Indian knowledge systems in alignment with the Bharat 2047 vision of a self-reliant, technologically empowered, and culturally rooted nation. We examine the current landscape of digital preservation initiatives — including the National Digital Library of India (NDLI), the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) — and identify critical gaps in scalability, interoperability, and multilingual accessibility. A federated cloud architecture is proposed, integrating AI-assisted transcription and translation, metadata standardization aligned with international frameworks, and edge computing for rural community access. Governance frameworks addressing intellectual property, community ownership, and ethical data stewardship are discussed. The paper concludes that a community-participatory cloud ecosystem, supported by public-private partnerships and open standards such as IIIF and Dublin Core, represents the most viable path for ensuring India's knowledge heritage is preserved not merely as static artifacts but as living, accessible, and actionable resources for future generations.